Anything
by Krysnel Nicavis
Summary: Something is bothering Greggo and Nick takes it upon himself to find out what it is. OneShot. Part of the Manson Rescue Universe.


**Title:** Anything  
**Fandom:** CSI  
**Characters:** Nightshift CSI's  
**Prompt:** #77 – What?  
**Word Count:** 1,540  
**Rating:** K (Content should be free of any coarse language, violence, and adult themes.)  
**Summary:** Something is bothering Greggo and Nick takes it upon himself to find out what it is.  
**Author's Notes:** Part of the "Manson Rescue" Universe; Prequel to "Shopping Fun".  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing…

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Nick knew that all was not well in his younger brother's world. All four of the Grissom children were home for the beginning of the summer holiday and Nick knew upon seeing the youngest Grissom that something was amiss. He also knew that no one else had picked up on it.

While their father, Gil, was a good parent and smart he was a bit dense when it came to actually dealing with people issues. The man understood more about what when on in the minds of his bugs than the minds of his children. He did the best he could raising four strong minded individuals – with considerable help from his wife in the "understanding the vast spectrum that is human emotion" department.

Catherine – their mother – was the opposite of their father and, as a result, his perfect match. She was very good at reading people and helping them through what ever problems had arisen. But when it came to the youngest of her four children, she hit a brick wall. Greg had always been a bit of an enigma to her. He was all over the place with his emotions and mood swings – it was generally agreed within the family that Greg had more mood swings than their sister Sara and mother combined.

Sara, the third of the Grissom children, had never really bothered herself with her youngest brother. She preferred to stick to her books. Of course her distance with regards to Greg was no different from the distance between her and her older brothers Warrick and Nick. She was much like their father in many ways. Like Gil, Sara had a slight inability to read people's emotions, but she was better able to deal with them – a trait she'd inherited from her mother. While it became more evident as they got older that she really did care for all her siblings, she was still "people dense" as Greg had once put it.

Lastly there was Warrick, the eldest of the Grissom children. His piercing green eyes had always been watchful over his younger siblings but, like his mother, he was unable to even begin to figure out what was going through his youngest brother's head. Given that Greg had become an extremely moody and brooding teenager compared to the happy-go-lucky child he'd been, Warrick had settled himself with the decision that he'd stay on the sidelines until his youngest brother requested his help – or was in immediate physical danger.

Nick exited the car and pulled his suitcase out from the trunk. It was good to be home. He'd been spending the last three years working as a police officer in Dallas, Texas but recently he'd begun considering a transfer back home to Las Vegas – and maybe even a change in career, Forensics was beginning to look interesting. He breathed in the warm Vegas air and walked into the four bedroom townhouse. Greg had been sitting on the porch swing when Nick and his father had pulled up and Nick knew instantly that something was seriously bothering the teenager. Greg had entered the house before they'd parked.

"Hey Mom!" Nick called as soon as he entered.

"Nicky, welcome home!" Catherine called as she raced forward and pulled her second-born into her arms. "It's so good to see you, how was the flight?"

"It was good, better than usual considering school's out and all the younger kids are flying with their parents," Nick grinned.

"Hey bro," Warrick greeted Nick and pulled the younger man into a manly one-arm embrace.

"Hey Rick, hope the Captain ain't working you too hard," Nick said, referring to the fact that Warrick was also a police officer, only here in Las Vegas.

"Nah, it's good."

"Hey Sara," Nick called to where his sister was sitting in the living room with a thick medical text was open on her lap.

"Hey Nick, great to see you," she smiled.

"You still studying? I thought school was out."

"I'm only on a week break before I go back for the first intersession," she explained. "I'm still waiting for the results from last semester's exams."

"Oh, well, if I know you, you did great," he grinned.

"Thanks," she said before returning to her book. Nick excused himself to his room where he was sure Greg had wandered off to.

"Hey Greggo," Nick said a she entered his childhood room to see eighteen-year-old Greg lying on his stomach on his own bed flipping though some sort of manga (1). Greg grunted in response as he continued to flip through the book. "Want to talk about it, G?" Nick asked as he deposited his suitcase on his bed and unpacked. After receiving no response he turned around. Greg had placed the manga on the bed, closed, and had his chin resting on his folded arms staring at the comforter, still lying on stomach. Nick sat down on his bed. "You know you can tell me anything Greggo," Nick said softly. "You can tell me anything and I can promise you that I won't judge you." Greg sat up, eyes still firmly fixed on the comforter. "Anything you tell me in confidence will stay between me and you."

"I know," Greg said quietly, nodding his head. He lifted his gaze to meet his brother's and Nick was a bit startled to see the tears that had built up in Greg's eyes. Greg bit his lip and Nick moved to sit beside Greg.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me." Greg stood up and quickly shut the bedroom door before retaking his seat. He looked at the floor and took a few calming breaths.

"I uh…" he swallowed hard. "I- um…" Greg looked back at Nick uncertainly. "I… I met someone," he choked out. "I met someone this year, back at Stanford," he continued.

"Are you and this someone dating?" Nick asked, tilting his head to the side as he took note of the gender-neutral word Greg used. He was unnerved that this would be something that caused his wacky little brother to be so afraid and uncertain.

"Um, well, yeah," Greg admitted, closing his eyes. "We've been together since this dorm party last November. I haven't told Mom yet."

"Greg, what's wrong? Are you afraid of how she'll react about you and this 'someone'?" Nick asked softly and Greg nodded, looking down at his hands. "Are you afraid of how the rest of the family will react?" Greg nodded again. "Are you going to let me in on it?" Nick asked, looking at his younger brother encouragingly. "What's bothering you about it?"

"Uh, the thing is, you see, when," Greg stammered as his cheeks flushed.

"Breathe, G," Nick smiled.

"It's- It's a… not girl…" Greg blushed.

"Run that by me again?" Nick grinned, having heard and perfectly understood what the eighteen-year-old had said.

"Well, you know there are girls," Greg began. "But there are also… _not_ girls…"

"And is this someone a, _not_ girl?" Nick asked still grinning. Greg nodded. "So does your _not_ girlfriend have a name?"

"Um, D- Danny," Greg answered. "Danny Messer. He's from New York." Nick smiled and nodded.

"So when do I get to meet him?"

"You want to meet him?" Nick nodded. "You mean you aren't mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" Nick asked confused.

"Well, I don't know. Most families are mad and ashamed when they find out that one of them is, well…"

"Gay?" Nick offered. Greg nodded.

"So you don't hate me?"

"Aww, Greggo, I could _never_ be mad at you _or_ ashamed of you," he pulled his brother into a comforting hug. "You're my little brother, my Greggo," he said, pulling back. "I don't hate you, G. You're my brother, I love you."

"Thanks, Nicky. That really means a lot to me," Greg said honestly, looking into his older brother's eyes. "Just promise me you won't tell anyone just yet."

"I promised you earlier that anything you tell me in confidence would stay between me and you. Now, tell me about this guy," Nick stood to finish unpacking his suitcase.

"Well, he's in the Criminal Justice program," Greg began.

"I like him already," Nick joked and Greg laughed. Greg continued telling Nick all about his boyfriend and his first year at Stanford until dinner was ready. Later than night Greg was still afraid that Nick was mad at him.

"How about I prove to you that I have no problem with it," Nick suggested as they readied for bed.

"How?" Nick got a sly glint in his eyes and whispered something in Greg's ear. "Are you crazy?" Greg jumped back.

"Nope, I'm serious," Nick grinned.

"But we're actually brothers," Greg stated, baffled at Nick's plan.

"I know that, and you know that, but they won't know that."

"Shouldn't that be wrong?"

"Why? We're brothers. We have an automatic understanding," Nick said.

"I know _that_, but what will Sara and Warrick think?"

"They'll get a kick out of it." Greg ran the plan through his mind for a few minutes before making a decision.

"Alright, fine. I'll go with your crazy plan." They grinned and went to bed. Neither could wait to put Nick's crazy plan into action tomorrow at the mall.

- 30 -

THE END

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**Footnotes:**

(1) Manga – Japanese style comic books (very detailed); Anime is the Japanimation cartoons.

**A/N:** Ages of Grissom children in this fic: Warrick, 25; Nick, 24; Sara, 23; Greg, 18.

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_released__: January 03, 2008  
updated: July 27, 2010_


End file.
